


legal superheroes

by adashofhope



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-05-27 18:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15030656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adashofhope/pseuds/adashofhope
Summary: the suits au that no one wanted, but i insisted on writing.





	1. welcome to the team

The tension in the room is obvious and could be cut with a knife. 

And Peter? Well, he’s had enough of it.

“May, please?” he tries to be calm. “It’s been a week since you found out. We can’t go on like this. Say something to me!”

It’s quiet for a while and he’s about to retreat to his room and hate himself for ruining his relationship with the only family he had left because he was too stupid to close his damn door before trying on his new suit that Tony gave him.

But then, she sighs and sets the cloth she’s been holding onto the kitchen counter. She crosses her arms and quietly asks him, “What do you want me to say, Peter?”

“I…” and he didn’t really think this through. All he knows is that he was sick of receiving the silent treatment from May. May. She had been the most understanding parent/aunt throughout his entire teenage life. No matter what stupid shit he pulled, she never got angry and she always listened to him. This time, she shut him out completely and it hurt.

She sucks in a deep breath and her voice wavers as she speaks, “I’ve just found out that you’ve been risking your life every time you snuck out of this house in that goddamn costume when I thought that you were just being a normal teenager. How am I supposed to look at myself after knowing exactly how shitty of a guardian I am? I mean, I promised-”

And she’s spiralling. This is exactly why he never wanted her to find out.

“May,” he walks over to her and holds both her arms. “This isn’t on you. You’ve been the best aunt I could’ve ever asked for.”

She raises her arms to tuck her hair behind her ears and Peter lets go of her and takes a step back, “And what about you almost getting killed every single night?”

“That’s the thing. I have superhuman powers-”

“Damn it, Peter. Unless those powers make you immortal, there’s still a good chance that you could die any one of these days!”

He sighs, “I can’t do anything about that, May.”

“I want you to quit. Stop this whole thing right now.”

“I...I can’t do that. I would’ve given it all up by now but you know why I can’t. I’d do anything else for you. Just...not that.”

She sighs again and moves to sit down on the couch that’s probably got a few years on him. She’s clutching onto the cloth again and her knuckles are white and he hates that he’s done this to her and that he’s made her worry. She laces her fingers together and presses them against her forehead. Finally, she looks up at him.

“I’m sorry. I know you can’t do that.”

“Don’t apologise, May. None of this is your fault,” he sits down next to her.

After a while, she speaks again, “Promise me one thing then, Peter.”

“Anything.”

“Promise me, you’ll get a job. An actual job. Not just a job photographing yourself for the paper. You have a law degree. Use it for good.”

He looks at her and he realises that it’s his fault that she’s worrying and that he has to see her like this so he says yes.

* * *

“I hear you’re looking for a job at the firm that I happen to own.”

“With all due respect Tony, I’m only here because she found out about this interview and I promised her that I’d go to it,” he says, fixing his tie. “Are you even supposed to be conducting this interview? Shouldn’t someone more...experienced in the legal sector be here?”

Tony shrugs, fiddling with one of his gadgets, “I personally arranged for this.”

“I’m getting the job, aren’t I?” he sighs.

“Pepper knows how good you are. She’s in charge of the firm anyway, so it’s not like I’m pulling one over her,” he says, twirling around in his chair now.

“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to work here, Mr- Tony.”

Tony stops himself and drags his chair closer to the desk in front of him. He folds his hands on the desk and for the first time throughout this entire interview, he lets the tiny bit of professionalism in him make an appearance, “Where  _ do  _ you want to work then?”

“At the DA’s office.”

Tony laughs and goes back to twirling around in his desk chair, “Are you kidding me? They find out about your alter-ego, -which they will, so don’t give me that bullshit about how they would never find out- and you’re screwed! In case you’ve gotten a little out of touch with the law, it’s still illegal for you to go around being a vigilante because of the Accords.”

“...That you signed.”

“Oh, not this again.”

Peter lets out something that’s between a groan and a sigh.

Tony stands up, buttoning his suit jacket, “I’ll see you at the office next Monday. Go out and get yourself some new suits. Actually, I don’t trust your taste in clothing. I’ll just get them for you.”

He’s out the door before Peter even has the chance to protest.

Maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

* * *

The firm is big and it radiates power and intelligence. There are people in suits that are worth more than he is walking around with a purpose, and he’s in awe. If he wasn’t Spider-Man, this would be exactly where he wanted to be working. The receptionist makes him wait and he’s attracted to the huge, glass window that overlooks the Manhattan skyline. Normally, he’d be swinging around and saving the world, but he was doing this for May.

“You must be Peter Parker.”

A tall girl who looks slightly older than him comes into view. She looks down at her clipboard and then back at him and nods. She’s beautiful. She has straight, black hair and she’s wearing a white dress and he thinks he might be in love.

She holds out her hand, “I’m Liz Allen. I’ll be giving you a quick rundown of the firm before you get started on your work.”

“I-uh...ok?”

She smiles and looks down at her clipboard, making her hair fall in front of her face. Peter mentally slaps himself and tells himself to get his act together. She hands him a pen and a notepad, “You might need to take some notes.”

He gulps.

“Come on,” she motions for him to follow her with a sweet smile and he does.

“You’re an associate so you’ll be answering to Mr Wilson. He’s in charge of the associates around here.”

“What’s he like?”

“He’s well, you’ll have to see for yourself. He’s...laidback but you don’t want to cross him, trust me.”

They walk into a bullpen filled with people around his age holding enormous stacks of files, papers and binders running around the bullpen. Some are headed for the copier, some are rubbing their foreheads and arguing with each other and some are typing away furiously on a keyboard. Either way, they’re all stressed and are trying to meet a deadline and Peter would be lying he said that he didn’t want to leave this place, put on his suit and go swinging around Manhattan.

She walks them over to an empty cubicle filled with stacks of papers, “This is you.”

He looks down at his empty notepad and realises that maybe he should’ve been taking notes instead of daydreaming about the paralegal in front of him.

“I guess I should,” he looks down at the pile of work on his desk. “Get to work!”

She laughs, “Good luck. My office is down the hall if you need any help.”

* * *

 

“Hey, newbie!” 

Peter rolls his eyes. This is high school all over again. He sticks his head up from his desk, “Yeah?”

The asshole associate in question laughs, “Is there any chance of your ties getting thinner as the day goes on? I mean, maybe it’s my mind messing with me. It’s like a superpower.”

The associates around him laugh and he goes back to doing his work. He wants a superpower? Oh man, he’s got it. The bullpen is nearly empty by lunch, so he decides to take a break from doing legal paperwork (oh fun!) and make himself a cup of coffee. What was he thinking getting a law degree? He should’ve went with his gut and did something in Computer Science. He could be  _ actually  _ working at Stark Industries, but sue him and his moral compass for wanting to help people.

He’s so lost in thought that he doesn’t notice someone coming out of the break room, drinking a large iced latte. He bumps into her and the coffee flies out of her hands and lands on her pants, possibly ruining it for good.

Shit.

She’s dressed like an executive, but she wouldn’t be coming out of the associate’s break room if she was an executive so he hopes to God that she’s just another associate that’s going to have it out for him after this.

He bends down to pick up the plastic cup that’s almost empty, “I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t know there was someone in here and I should’ve paid more attention instead of regretting every life decision I’ve ever made and-”

“You’re new here,” she observes.

She scares him, so he gives her a straightforward answer, “I uh, yes. It’s my first day.”

She squints her eyes and takes him in intimidatingly. Then, she cracks a small, amused smile before returning to her serious expression, “I’ll cut you some slack then.”

“I’m sorry again about the uh, the…”

“Pants? Don’t worry, I’m sure Liz has an extra skirt lying around her office that I could use. Also, I’m not your superior. I’m a third year associate. You just don’t see me in the bullpen because they treasure me for my good work and gave me an office.”

At that, Peter visibly calms down. He sticks his hands in his pockets awkwardly, “You know Liz?”

She grabs a couple of tissues from the table behind her and wipes her coffee-stained pants with a shrug, “Everyone knows Liz. She’s the best paralegal around.”

“That’s why she has her own office.”

“Uh huh,” she says, crumpling her tissues and tossing them into the trash can. “They treasure her too.”

“As fun as it is terrorising you and making you nervous, I have to get changed into something that does not smell like caffeine before I bump into a client or a partner,” she gives him a teasing smile and leaves the break room.

He forgets about his coffee and makes his way back to his desk to catch up on his paperwork before his annoying fellow associates return from their lunch break and piss him off even more. When he’s finally done with all the paperwork, he realises that he’s been filing a dozen subpoenas for some other partner’s case. He turns to the associate in the cubicle beside him, “Hey uh, where’s Michelle Jones’ office?”

“Michelle’s office? Oh, it’s right down the hallway and it’s two doors away from Liz’s office.”

“Right, thanks…”

The associate smiles and holds out his hand as a friendly gesture, “Ned Leeds.”

Finally, someone he could get along with in this bullpen. He shakes his hand gingerly, “Peter Parker, or you might know me as ‘Newbie’.”

Ned waves him off, “Ignore them. They did this to me when I first came here. They’re the Harvard bunch, but they’re really some of the worst associates in this firm.”

“Gotcha,” he says, turning around to look at the pretentious associates across him. He looks down at the subpoenas, “I guess I should take this to Michelle’s office.”

“You should,” he smiles, leaning back on his chair with his arms crossed. “If it’s one thing she hates, it’s tardiness.”

“On my way!” he stumbles, carrying all the folders with ease and earning a chuckle from Ned.

* * *

The woman inside the office is young, intimidating and she’s facing the window. She’s on the phone with someone and from the way she’s gesturing, he does not want to be on the receiving end of the phone call. Finally, she ends the call and picks up a law journal on her bookshelf and starts flipping through it with a highlighter cap in between her teeth.

Peter decides to actually knock on the door instead of watching this woman from outside her own office. When she turns around, they both freeze.

“ _ You’re  _ Michelle Jones?!” he blurts.

“What?” she smiles, crossing her arms. Her bangs fall in front of her face and Peter can’t exactly help himself when he thinks to himself that she’s actually really pretty. “Expecting a partner for you to suck up to throughout this case?”

“Uh....”

She snorts and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, “I’m just messing with you. Everyone has to do it to get somewhere in this firm.”

“So,” she walks up to her desk and motions for him to sit down in front of her. “You’re the associate I’m supposed to work with.”

She places both her hands down on her desk and leans forward, “I handle most of the pro-bono cases around here so that’s what you’ll be dealing as long as you’re working with me.”

He leans back on the chair, “That’s great. What are we working on?”

Finally, she stops with that extremely intimidating stance and takes a seat as she flips through a file and hands it to him, “It’s a sexual harassment case. She was sexually harassed by her boss and got fired after refusing to sleep with him. She brought the problem to HR but no one did anything about it.”

She grabs the subpoenas in front of him and nods, “Since you’re done filing those subpoenas, we’re gonna need to find-”

“Former employees that are willing to testify against him.”

She smiles, “Huh. You’re not as clueless as you let on.”

“Come on. We still have time,” she says, standing up. Peter notices that she’s wearing a skirt with her white blouse instead of her pants.

“Hey, you’re wearing a skirt.”

Amused, she grabs her coat, “I had to change. This new associate spilled iced coffee all over me 30 minutes before a meeting I had with a client.”

“You had a- oh my god, that makes it worse. I’m so sorry-”

He follows her out the door like a lost puppy trailing after it’s owner, “You don’t have to apologise. I screwed up even worse on my first day.”

He takes two long strides to catch up with her. Damn, she’s fast. “What did you do?” he asks, buttoning his suit jacket.

She snorts, “There’s no way I’m telling you what I did.”

“You mistook a partner for someone else?”

“You showed up two hours late?”

She shoots him a look.

“That’s right, you hate it when people are late.”

Then, she gives him a surprised look and he can tell that it’s rare getting Michelle even remotely surprised.

“Ned told me,” he shrugs as they step into the elevator.

“Of course he would,” she shakes her head and he gets the feeling that Ned is actually really good friends with her.

“You walked into Pepper’s office by accident and she caught you there?”

She rolls her eyes as the elevator doors close.


	2. michelle jones the...defense attorney??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry this is long overdue but i have a plan and it might also suck because this is my first time in a long time writing again so give me some time to get better

They return to the office with two other women willing to testify and he thinks that he’s actually really hit it off with Michelle and that they’re a great team. When the elevators door open, he’s met with the all too familiar face of none other than Tony Stark. 

 

“Parker,” Tony greets, a smirk on his face. 

 

Peter sneaks a glance at Michelle and she looks confused but she merely nods at Tony, “Mr Stark.”

 

She grabs the case files from Peter’s grip and makes her way back to her office just as Tony greets her back, “Ms Jones.”

 

She’s already out of earshot so Tony steps into the elevator with him and presses the button to close the doors. “You know who she is?” Peter asks.

 

“Of course I do,” Tony says, crossing his arms and leaning against the walls of the elevator. “She makes this firm look good.”

 

“That’s why you guys do pro-bonos.”

 

“That’s not the entire reason.”

 

Peter gives him a look and he stands up straight, “Why aren’t you wearing the suit I bought you?”

 

“That’s a thousand dollar suit! I can’t wear that here!”

 

Tony scrunches up his nose in disgust looking down at Peter’s suit, “This is exactly the place to wear the suit.”

 

“It attracts too much attention!”

 

“No,  _ that  _ attracts too much attention.”

 

Peter sighs, “Are you just going to keep commenting on my suit or are you going to actually tell me why you’re here?”

 

“I just wanted to see how you’re settling in,” Tony shrugs, trying to be nonchalant.

 

Peter narrows his eyes, “Wait a minute. Did May send you?”

 

“No! I came here all on my own and I’d like an answer to my question.”

 

Peter stuffs his hands into his pockets and leans against the wall of the elevator. He stares up at the ceiling, “The associates are...dicks.”

 

He feels Tony’s glare on him, but he continues, “I think I made two friends, and…”

 

Tony snorts, “Let me guess...Liz?”

 

“I don’t- how do you-”

 

“The pretty paralegal? Yeah, Pepper says that every single associate who comes here develops a crush on her and gets over it after 5 months.”

 

“Well, not me, cause I don’t- I don’t like Liz like that.”

 

Tony snorts, “Ok, kid.”

 

\---

 

His first case goes by sooner than expected. Overall, everything is good. Amazingly, he still has time to do his patrol AND be one of the better associates in the firm. He becomes fast friends with Ned and of course, embarrasses himself in front of Liz every once in a while. Michelle is...tough, but she’s Liz’s best friend and she’s a pretty damn good lawyer. He thinks Michelle tolerates him at best. She’s so unpredictable, it feels like he’s on thin ice everyday he’s in there with her. 

 

One day, he’s out on a coffee, or well tea run, and he gets a call from Michelle. 

 

“Parker, I didn’t know it took 8 years to get me my tea.”

 

“Michelle, wha- you literally just sent me out to get your tea.”

 

Michelle scoffs, “Don’t make it sound like I’m one of those bosses that expects you to have some sort of superpower.”

 

_ Well, if only he had some sort of mind reading superpower, he’d be able to figure out what she wanted from him.  _

 

“Get over here, now!”

 

“What about your tea?”

 

“Screw my tea!”

 

“Okay?”

 

When he gets to the office, he finds her waiting for him by the elevators with her arms crossed and an angry look on his face. She’s tapping her foot against the floor impatiently and the noise from the heel of her shoe makes the other lawyers stare rudely at her but she doesn’t seem fazed at all. 

 

He gulps before nervously stepping out of the elevator. Sometimes, Michelle has the power to make him forget that  _ he  _ has superpowers. That’s how terrifying she is. 

 

“There’s a criminal in my office!” 

 

“A what?!” 

 

“There’s a criminal in my office that wants me to defend him and it’s all  _ your  _ fault!”

 

“How is it my- oh.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Because you see, Michelle had a strict rule about never defending criminals, unlike many of the lawyers in the firm who would defend anyone who could pay them. And Peter was involved in this because well, Liz. Liz’s dad had some shady connections which led to him blabbering about his daughter’s firm to Liz’s so called distant cousin who was a dangerous crime lord that was looking for a good defense attorney and Liz had told her dad about Michelle without really thinking it through. Liz had vented to Peter while they were out at lunch together one day for a friendly non-date, and the idiot in him had lied to Liz and told her that Michelle didn’t really care about that rule just so that they could talk about something other than work. That, led to Liz making an appointment for her ‘cousin’ to see Michelle. 

 

And here they were. 

 

One wrong sentence out of Peter’s stupid mouth and it looked like Michelle was going to grab him by the collar and-

 

“You’re going to go in there and tell him to get out of my office.”

 

That sentence was supposed to scare Peter. But he was freakin Spider-Man, so it didn’t. When Michelle saw Peter’s blank expression, she groaned. 

 

“Michelle, don’t kill me but don’t you think Liz would be pretty bummed if you didn’t help her cousin out?”

 

“Oh please, we both know he’s some shady friend of her dad’s and he’s not even remotely related to her.”

 

“Come on,  _ MJ. _ Just hear him out, at least.”

 

Michelle stops staring in the general direction of her office and glares at him instead, “You’re not allowed to call me that, Parker.”

 

Peter does the one thing he never thought he would ever have to do in this office. He gives her his infamous puppy eyes that would later become a weakness of hers. Michelle rolls her eyes, “Fine. For Liz.”

 

Peter doesn’t have time to wipe the smug grin on his face and she sees it as they’re walking to her office, “I’m going to make you sit through the entire thing.”

 

“What?”

 

“If I’m going to have a meeting with one of New York’s biggest crime lords for Liz, then you’re going to do it too.”

 

“No way. I’m not going in there, you’re the defense attorney he wants.”

 

Okay, fine. Maybe, he had forgotten how dangerous Liz’s ‘cousin’ really was. Everyone knew about him, he was always in the news, getting into fights with some other mafia gang which resulted in numerous deaths all over the Bronx. 

 

“I’m your boss. You have no choice,” Michelle smiles, tightening her grip on his forearm. 

 

“Technically, I’m a first year associate so my boss is Mr Wilson.”

 

“But you report to me,” the smile on Michelle’s face was widening now. She didn’t seem so worried about talking to a criminal now because she was obviously more entertained with making him squirm. Then, it hit him. 

 

“Wait, you know that I like Liz?”

 

“Oh, come on, Parker. You’re not subtle at all.”

 

“Hey! I’m not  _ that  _ bad.”

 

“You’re the worst. Now, stop thinking about how you have no game and get ready.”

 

He watches as Michelle glares at the man sitting in her office and pushes against the glass door. Peter can already tell that this is going to be one hell of a meeting by the annoyed look on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> floofyparker on twitter  
> softboyholland on tumblr

**Author's Note:**

> floofyparker on twitter  
> softboyholland on tumblr  
> curlytommo on curious cat


End file.
